The present invention relates generally to the field of magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), and more particularly to a handheld device for recognition of magnetic ink characters.
Various industries have adopted the use of magnetic ink character recognition systems. In particular, the banking industry has been utilizing various types of magnetic ink character recognition systems in order to provide document identifying information which can be visibly read by humans and automatically read by machines.
In general, characters are printed on a document using magnetic ink in a standard font configuration. The standard font used is generally known in the industry and viewed as a universal means of document identification. The magnetic ink character recognition system reads the standard font configuration provided by the magnetic ink. Each standard font character is placed within a xe2x80x9cmatrixxe2x80x9d, made up of a series of columns. The magnetic ink recognition system automatically identifies the characters by reading and processing the amount of ink deposited in the various xe2x80x9ccolumnsxe2x80x9d of the matrix.
Initially, the magnetic ink characters are moved past a magnetic read head, and a waveform is generated which represents the rate of change of magnetic flux with time. The electrical waveform indicates change in the amount of magnetic material beneath the read head as the medium bearing the characters move past the head. Since the MICR character set is defined such that the combination of magnetic material present for a given character is unique, a corresponding unique waveform is developed for each character by the read head. The characters may be distinguished from one another by analyzing this resulting waveform and using appropriate recognition circuitry.
The movement of the document along the read head of the character recognition system is important due to the fact that the magnetic characters must be individually recognized. The velocity of the document along the read head is most desirably a fixed and constant velocity. In current magnetic character recognition systems, a predetermined velocity is set in order to synchronize the recognition circuitry with a fixed frequency timing signal.
One disadvantage to this type of technique, is the expense required to obtain an accurate mechanical document conveyance system. In general, this type of system requires the use of a synchronizing motor which is not only expensive but occupies a large amount of space and is not portable.
In order to reduce the expense incurred while producing a MICR system, it is desirable to obtain a system which is hand operated and compact. A hand-held system allows the user to easily manipulate the MICR reader to the various needs of documents and provides flexibility in the use of the reader. One disadvantage to previously developed hand-held devices is the inability to monitor and compensate for variable speeds generated by manual operation. We are not aware of any previously developed hand held devices.
There is a continuous need to develop advances in the functionality of the magnetic ink recognition system. Such types of advances may include but are not limited to the magnetic reader being compact and easily transportable. This compact and transportable embodiment enables various documents to be scanned in multiple orientations. In addition, it is desirable for the user to have the ability to scan a document at various speeds using a manual reader while simultaneously not inhibiting the performance of the reader.
The present invention relates to a hand-held magnetic ink character recognition system having an integrated position/speed feedback device, such as an optical encoder. The position/speed feedback device is provided to compensate for variable speeds generated by manual operation.
According to the present invention, characters on a document are moved past a xe2x80x9cread headxe2x80x9d or a magnetic sensor. As previously suggested, the movement of the MICR characters past the read head of the recognition system must be performed at a known speed. One object of the present invention is to compensate for variations in speeds due to manual operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable and compact system for magnetic ink character recognition. Current designs require the use of motorized transports, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,092. The use of motorized transports is not only expensive, but requires large amounts of space. In order to overcome this disadvantage, the present invention provides a lower cost solution by eliminating the motor and the bulk of the transport.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a flexible hand-held reader which is applicable to various media that contain magnetic ink characters. The hand-held design of the present invention allows not only the MICR system to be used on various documents, as found in the banking industry, but on other types of media that have magnetic characters disposed on the surface, such as boxes, books and a range of other items. The adaptability of the reader""s design allows the use of magnetic ink characters to expand beyond the banking industry to alternate areas.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a xe2x80x9cmouse-likexe2x80x9d device, the operation of which will be intuitive due to operators familiarity with computer mouse. The device will include a character alignment visual aid to assist the operator.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a means for transferring data from the magnetic ink character reader to a data processor. An output cable from the hand-held recognition device enables consistent interaction and response between a data processor and the hand-held recognition device. We could also make this wireless. Software provided by the data processor interprets and manipulates the MICR data according to the desired results of the user. Data can be read and stored simultaneously by the processor. This type of functionality eliminates the need for a two step process of scanning the document, followed by inputting text into a separate data processing device.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.